Irish to fight for 14-team Cricket World Cup

Ireland batsman Andy Balbirnie in action against India at the 2015 Cricket World CupRAGHAVAN VENUGOPAL/INPHO

Cricket Ireland will urge the International Cricket Council to re-examine its decision to limit the World Cup to ten teams at the next ICC board meeting in March.

The ICC voted to reduce the tournament from 14 teams to ten in 2011, a month after Ireland’s famous World Cup victory over England in Bangalore.

The ICC opted to retain the 14-team format for the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand after intense lobbying from the second-tier nations, but will revert to their original ten-team plan for the 2019 and 2023 editions.

It will mean that only the top eight sides will qualify automatically for the ten-team World Cup, leaving the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland to compete against the top associates in March’s…